CEO Choi details the company’s plan to be active in securing projects for high-rises, power plants and infrastructure in Asia and the Middle East in particular

25(Sat), Mar, 2017

President Choi Chi-hoon of Samsung C&T.

President Choi Chi-hoon of Samsung C&T Construction said the company this year will focus on risk management to safeguard profitability.

In a letter sent on March 12 to shareholders who are slated for March 24, Choi said the construction sector will only compete for projects with high profitability this year. He said “correct market” and “proper commodities” are the keywords in its management plan this year.

Choi went on to note that the company will aim to strengthen its foundations in key construction markets abroad, including Asia and the Middle East, where the construction industry is projected to grow, including projects for high-rise buildings, power plants, and other infrastructure. He plans to detail the plan at the shareholders’ meeting on March 24.

The company’s operating profit came to 3.4 billion won last year, recovering from a 33.3 billion won loss in the preceding year.

The president said the company has been in an upswing since the 2nd quarter of last year as the company has been competing only for profitable projects in the areas of infrastructure and power plants, which have been hot since the 2nd quarter last year.

Notably, he left the word “Remian” ― the brand name for the company’s residential houses ― from the strategies the company will take up for this year.

Construction market sources are split on Samsung C&T’s future plan for residential housing projects, with the company not sure about its participation in the bidding for Shin Dongah Apartment Reconstruction Project in Seocho-dong, Seoul.

The company set up a task force to reopen its domestic operation involving housing construction projects this year, but its has yet to make moves to secure domestic construction projects.

The company won new construction projects worth 31.626 trillion won last year, down 21.1 percent from the preceding year, with housing construction projects on the books totaling 10.186 trillion won, down 27.9 percent from the preceding year.

Samsung C&T announced it will donate 500 million won ($434,000) in medical expenses and education fees to the Korean Organization for Rare Diseases (KORD), a charity that assists children with rare and terminal illnesses. The announcement was made at a ceremony held in Seoul’s Olympic Park on Feb. 8.

Some 300 children with rare and terminal illnesses attended the ceremony, including a girl named Min Ji-su (an alias), who suffers from congenital aortic stenosis.

Also in attendance were members of the children’s families, as well as KORD’s president, Shin Hyun-min. Samsung C&T’s has provided ongoing support for KORD since 2004. In addition to monetary funding, it has provided children and their families with a total of 10,000 tickets to the Everland theme park, operated by Samsung C&T’s Resort and Leisure Group in order to provide them with a day to cherish.

In 13 years of collaboration with KORD, Samsung C&T has provided a total of 2.4 billion won to 500 children. It is the first Korean corporation to provide wide-scale support to children with rare and terminal illnesses. In 2014, the company received official recognition for its efforts from Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The Samsung C&T-supported Sound of Hope choir also performed at the ceremony. Samsung C&T helped establish the choir in 2007, and this year marks its 10th anniversary. The choir is also made up of children who suffer from rare and terminal illnesses.

Samsung C&T officials and KORD President Shin Hyun-min with a chid, Min Ji-su, with rare disease attend a ceremony held in the Seoul Oylmpic Park in Seoul, on Feb. 8 in which Samsung C&T delivered a box full of medical equipment to be used for the childrebn with rate and terminal diseases. (Photos: Samsung C&T)